VERA FILES FACT CHECK: Marcos did NOT stop signature campaign for Cha-cha

Multiple posts on social media are claiming that President Ferdinand Marcos halted the collection of signatures to amend the Constitution via the people’s initiative. This is not true.

As early as Jan. 15, several pages and a channel on Facebook (FB) and YouTube published videos that made the untrue claim. The YouTube video bore this headline:

“GUMUHO PANGARAP NI ROMUALDEZ! PEOPLES INITIATIVE PINATIGIL NA NI PBBM! DI KAYA ANG TAUMBAYAN

(The dream of [House Speaker Martin] Romualdez crumbled! People’s initiative stopped by Marcos! The public could not take it)”

The voice-over in the video alleged that Marcos “came to his senses” and ordered to stop the signature campaign for Charter change, in response to the public outcry against the people’s initiative.

This is false. Marcos has made no such an order.

The people’s initiative for Charter Change is still ongoing. On Jan. 19, Commission on Elections Chairman Erwin Garcia confirmed that they have received signature sheets for charter change from over 700 cities and municipalities.

While the president did not stop the signature campaign for Charter change, he did express his displeasure over the signature campaign to Senate President Juan Miguel Zubiri.

“The President agreed with us that the proposal [to amend the Constitution] was too divisive, and asked the Senate to instead take the lead in reviewing the economic provisions of the Constitution,” Zubiri said in a Jan. 15 press conference.

These spurious videos appeared as the collection of signatures for Charter change continued. Albay Representative Joey Salceda said the plebiscite for the people’s initiative will likely be held in July.

FB pages Jalyn Clarita Talks (created on March 20, 2020), Duterte News Info Live (March 14, 2021), TELESETYESss (July 6, 2020) and YouTube channel Robin Sweet Showbiz (July 25, 2017), could have potentially reached a total of 651,000 online users.

At least 15 other FB pages uploaded similar videos that carried the same claim.

Have you seen any dubious claims, photos, memes, or online posts that you want us to verify? Fill out this reader request form or send it to VERA, the truth bot on Viber.

(Editor’s Note: VERA Files has partnered with Facebook to fight the spread of disinformation. Find out more about this partnership and our methodology.)